Chapel Window 11—The Resurrection
It’s Windows Wednesday again! This week, we complete our examination of the Chapel windows with Window 11—The Resurrection. At the top, God’s creation is exemplified by men of a variety of races in conversation with one another, a fitting reminder that Christ’s sacrifice was made for all of mankind. Below that, we see Christ Himself, triumphant in His resurrection. Below, just peeking over the top of the pews, is a lily. The pure white lily, springing forth from a dormant bulb near Eastertime, is a beautiful symbol of Jesus Christ overcoming death and bringing radiance and life back from the grave. It also shows the renewing power of the Holy Spirit in the world: that there are signs in the world that Jesus is among us and with us, if we look for them. This is the culmination of His journey, told through the entire cycle of windows. Standing in the Chapel, this is the last window before you reach the door again. Scrolling or clicking on the image below shows the final design for this window. Also pictured below, you see a preliminary design for the resurrection window. The image of Jesus is relatively unchanged. In this design, He is partnered with the Trees of Paradise, symbolizing the return of paradise to a sinful humanity. At the bottom, there is an image of an eagle (a common stand-in for the United States of America) and the continents of the earth. This was intended to represent the races of man in a different way than was ultimately chosen. The idea of the continents of the earth can be seen at the top of Chapel Window 6 and a similar foliage motif was used at the top of Chapel Window 8. This concludes our examination of the Chapel windows. In the next post, we’ll discuss the Sanctuary itself, and begin examining each of its many windows.
[one_half][virtual_slide_box id=”10″][/one_half] [one_half_last]“If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you.” Romans 8:11
[/one_half_last]Related posts:
Have you ever noticed that panels of the etched glass at back of sanctuary that were installed to help control the sound, portrays the life of Christ from right to left with the alpha and omega at each end? Then that was done long ago when Dr. Carl Pierson was the minister. I was responsible for laying out the design for the etchings of the glass after finishing architecture at Kent while working for my father William Gilfillen Architect who was lead partner for the church in 1963. I was reminded of this today as I came across an old post card while downsizing and sorting lots of things from my own long and wonderous journey.
The web site below is about the firms work. There is much I hope to be adding to this web site over time.